Xenoslavery in the Republican States
Xenoslavery, or the institution of legal enslavement of non-human extrasolar intelligence (ESIs), has its roots in the founding of the Republican States of Rove. Though xenoslavery is presently banned within what is known as the "Inner System" (The Core and the Heartland), it is an established practice in the Gulf, Fringe, and Beltway and is responsible for the production of 73% of cash crops in the Republican States and 48% of all agricultural exports of the Republican States. Founding of the Republican States Founders Alexei Lieberman Founder Alexei Lieberman was a noted speciesist and established the Republican States with the intent of maintaining humanity's supremacy in the galaxy. In his "Lieberman Doctrine" speech, Lieberman identified what he labeled "The Ternion." The Ternion comprised collectivism, xenoegalitarianism, and transhumanism as the three threats to humanity's supremacy in the galaxy. Following his tenure as Chancellor, Lieberman stepped down from politics and retreated to an estate in the Gulf, Sugarfield. He would retain a close friendship with Carlos Trujillo, a tobacco mogul in the Gulf, for much of his life both in politics and afterwards. Augustus Rumsfeld Augustus Rumsfeld, the Grand Commander of the Veterans of the Republic (VOR) militia and first Commander-in-Chief of the Rovean Armed Forces (RAF), held similar views about species. While Lieberman developed these views sitting in his plantation as a child and making his own name in the cash crop market, Rumsfeld adopted them on the front lines of wars against non-humans. Rumsfeld, though a close associate of Lieberman, began to view the system less so as a positive good and more so as a necessary evil. Economy The economy at the founding of the Republican States was a mix of agriculture in the Fringe, Gulf, and Heartland and industrial in the Beltway and Core. The Preserves and Wildlands had not yet been added to the territory of the Republican States. Xenoslavery thrived in the Gulf, where cash crops dominated the market and slaves could be purchasable to most in the middle-class. Efforts at expanding xenoslavery into the Fringe were underway, while in the Beltway, xenoslavery was used to supplant shortages of automated labor in asteroid and planetary mining. The Heartland, though agricultural, had automated most of its farms by the time of independence in the Republican States. As a result, Lieberman and other pro-xenoslavery politicians showed little interest for spreading the institution into an area where it was unprofitable, and instead focused on matters pertaining to the Fringe. Current Day Xenoslavery is a contentious issue within the Republican States, but it is not as highly dispute as in certain areas. The Republican Home party, seen as the institutional force against xenoslavery, is not opposed to the practice in the Outer System, nor its expansion into outside regions, such as those conquered during the Neopotamian Crusade. What Republicans fear is the spread of xenoslavery into the Inner System, which they see as risking the species purity and security of Rove to line the pockets of neo-aristocrats. Regions with Xenoslavery Xenoslavery began in the Fringe, Gulf, and Beltway, and has recently been expanded to the Preserve and Wildlands in controversial moves by the Rumsfeld Administration. To appeal to anti-slavery forces, the opening up of these territories was presented as a means of fortifying the borders of the Republican States against potential infiltration by the Neopotamian Star Caliphate with the ongoing Neopotamian Crusade taking place. The expansion of xenoslavery into the Inner System remains a point of contentious dispute. With expansion into the Wildlands and the Preserve, anti-slavery residents worry that the Core and Heartland may be opened to xenoslavery. Worse, they fear that the close associations between xenoslave families, like the Chan or Chase family, may result in Conservative Alliance politicians making the spread of xenoslavery a foreign policy goal of the Republican States, as exemplified by the Neopotamian Crusade's massive seizure of land. Public Perceptions of Xenoslavery =